White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Results from the August 19th primary are official as of the last count and certification this past week. The State Senate race in the 11th District, which includes part of White Center (the rest is in the 34th), is an example of how the new “Top 2 Primary” worked — for the primary, there were three candidates, all Democrats; in the old-style primary, the top votegetter in each party would have advanced to the general – but now, it’s the top 2, whoever they are. In this one, it’s incumbent Sen. Margarita Prentice, whose final primary percentage was 48%, and Juan Martinez, whose final primary percentage was 28% (most of the rest of the votes went to a third Democrat who is now out of the running). You can find the full results of this and other races on the King County website; the general election is on November 4th.

The following events are as I recall them.  Witnesses and participants are welcome to elaborate or correct my recollections.

Reptet, is a local jazz group, scheduled to perform at Cafe Rozella on Friday September 12th at 7 p.m.  You may recall that Reptet performed at last year’s Music Nights at White Center in what became known as the Night of the Reptet.  The event was historic.  It all started innocently enough, with Reptet doing their jazz thing at The Triangle.  The crowd seemed normal enough with a smattering of knuckle-draggers looking for a fight.  Reptet stroked hypnotic rhythms, the crowd began to murmur.  An Alaska fisherman, just returned from the Bering Sea, shouted, “what is this jazz shit? I want some Led Zeppelin!”  Reptet’s saxophonist pulled up to the fisherman and stroked the tenor with his fingers moving up and down the instrument’s keys.  Transfixed, the fisherman cracked a smile and began doing an Irish jig.  The crowd circled round the dancing fisherman and clapped and hollered as he introduced complex gyrations into his dance routine.  Women jumped on the bar and danced above the crowd.  Reptet revved up the tunage and now the crowd was theirs.

They marched outside and the crowd followed in a long conga line.  Bystanders jumped in and everyone was whooping and hollering.  The parade snaked around the Delridge Triangle and more and more bystanders joined the procession til dozens were snaking in the impromptu conga line.  The jazz swelled with the crowd and the tunage from Reptet was primal, calling some atavistic desire for tribal bonding.  The intersection of Delridge and Roxbury was now owned by the Reptet nation.  Cars stopped in the middle of the intersection and people jumped out to join the bacchanalia.  As it happened Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowskie was stopped in his car by the impromptu party.  He had misplaced his gun, and thought he might have left it in the bathroom at the Pho shop where he had been lunching with the local constabulary.   Grimacing and irascible, the Chief was none too pleased by this street show.  Some revelers recognized Kerlikowskie and began chanting, “remember the Battle of Seattle!”  Soon the Chief’s car was surrounded by an angry mob.  Reptet knew they had to do something to save the day.  They jumped on top of the chief’s car and grooved on a Coltraine acid jazz lick that transfixed the crowd.  The dancing resumed and before long the conga line was streaming through White Center.  Reptet led the crowd back to The Triangle where hundreds cheered them on with chants of “more, more, more…”  The evening ended with everyone spontaneously breaking into a rendition of “American Pie.”

And in the streets: the children screamed,

The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.

But not a word was spoken; The church bells all were broken.

And the three men I admire most:

The father, son, and the holy ghost,

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died.

And they were singing, “bye-bye, miss american pie.”

Drove my chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye

Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die. “this’ll be the day that I die.”

And that became known in local folklore as “The Night of the Reptet.” 

Just posted at our partner site WSB because it’s happening at a West Seattle business: Art-glass apples on sale, with half the purchase price going straight to the White Center Food Bank. To see the story (including a photo of the art-glass apple), click here.

Click To Play

First of two White Center Now video clips – that’s Charanga Danzon, “Seattle’s new Cuban music ensemble,” playing outdoors at Cafe Rozella tonight. Full Tilt had live music too – from a much different island nation – Tom Matchett from the UK rocked the shop tonight:

Click pic to play vid

Charanga Danzón is a fluid ensemble of wonderful musicians, with a repertoire of Cuban music including traditional charanga, son/danzón, cha-cha-chá, classical, and jazz.
Friday, September 5th at 7 p.m.

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A Great  benefit for a TERRIFIC kid!

Please join us in a benefit for Cora, a four year old who is struggling with Cancer.  The benefit will be held at Seattle Lutheran High School Gym, which is located at 4141 – 41st Ave. SW, Seattle (98116).

WHEN:  Sunday September 21st,  2:30 p.m.

Phone:  206.349.3848

Please come by and help us celebrate. Cora, Cupcakes, a Clown, need I say more?

Join us from 2:30-5:30 or  stop by just to say hello.

There will also be a silent auction with lots of tempting items,  and Team Cora tshirts for sale.

Hope to see you there!

Lots to report from tonight’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting, from fundraising to graffiti-fighting to annexation. Here are the highlights: Read the rest of this entry »

We are having the Paper Dolls, and Tom Matchett. It is going to be a good show. Tom is from London, and this is his only show in the NW.

http://www.myspace.com/tommatchett

http://www.myspace.com/therealpaperdolls

Also, we got a nice writeup in the PI. Comes out in the morning’s paper. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/377762_eat05.html

A group of very charming young people just came by the Cafe.  Their English was halting so I spoke to them in Spanish, to which they were thrilled.  They also loved our poetry wall with its emphasis on Pablo Neruda.  Turns out they are dancers from Argentina and are here to perform traditional Tango.  (As readers may know the Tango originated in Argentina.)  They will be performing in late September.   Please check here for more details.

Most people are not aware that we sit near a small store-front mosque.  Everyday, you can see Muslims from the Horn of Africa make their way to the mosque for prayers.  They are a very handsome people and carry themselves with regal bearing.  I find it fascinating that they have travelled so very far away to wind up in chilly Seattle (the Switzerland of America).  I am still waiting for the day, soon to arrive, when we can enjoy fresh falafel sandwiches in White Center.

If White Center is any indication, Seattle continues to be a draw for people from other parts of the country — especially the midwest.  The greatest number come from Michigan followed by the Chicago area and Minnesota.  Then there’s the couple from the Yukon (I know that’s Canada).

Just finalized plans for an exhibition and sale of Oaxacan rugs.  The rugs are made by a women’s collective in Oaxaca, Mexico.  Oaxaca is heavily indigenous and the rugs will bring that imprimatur.  We will likely have music to go along with the exhibition.  That should happen on September 24th of 25th.   Click here for more details.

Charanga Danzon will provide the music this Friday at the Cafe.  Charanga Danzon plays traditional Cuban music and is comprised of some excellent musicians.  Should be a fun performance.

Phoebe sent that photo to the mailbox for our partner site WSB – but it’s in the unincorporated area, so we’re sharing it here first. She writes:

There were goats running around loose near SW 106th Street and 28th Ave SW this AM! (map) I saw them darting out into traffic and then ducking into this yard for a snack! I parked my car and tried to find where they had escaped from without any luck. Eventually I called animal control who told me the goats are technically in King Co (Seattle city limits end at SW 106th & 32nd Ave SW) and that she would “see what she could do”. I drove by again at 10:00 and I didn’t see them in the area…I hope they made it home safe & sound!

Want to find out what’s happening with major community issues – and/or speak out about something that’s concerning you? You’ve got the chance tonight at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) monthly meeting, 7 pm at North Highline Fire District HQ, 1243 112th SW (here’s a map). To see the agenda, click here.

That photo’s just in from the FBI – from the White Center WaMu robbery reported here on White Center Now yesterday. And here’s some additional information from Seattle FBI spokesperson Robbie Burroughs, who says the same man is suspected in other robberies:

He uses a note and has not displayed or threatened a weapon. Yesterday he was described as being 5’6″ with a round face, wide eyes and a thin mustache. He was wearing a black shirt with vertical white stripes and a black brimmed hat.

Click here to see the flyer put out earlier this summer for two Burien robberies believed to be the work of the same robber. Meantime, here’s the second photo from yesterday’s heist:

If you have any idea where this man is, call 911.

We posted a reminder a few days back, and now the big day’s here. Still looking for info? Here’s the Highline Public Schools website; here’s the one for Seattle Public Schools. And it’s time for drivers to keep an eye out for school zones and buses, too. (Any back-to-school pix? E-mail us!)

The result wasn’t surprising – in a Tukwila meeting room tonight, the Boundary Review Board accepted Burien’s move to withdraw its North Highline Annexation proposal, at least tentatively – but what happened in the moments before the hearing ended, held a little drama, particularly the statement made by an attorney representing the city of Seattle. ADDED 10:30 PM: Here are full details: Read the rest of this entry »

That’s King County Executive Ron Sims and White Center/West Seattle-area County Councilmember Dow Constantine at a just-concluded media briefing in Sodo detailing a state-funded plan to add Metro bus service when major Alaskan Way Viaduct work starts next spring. Full details later; the White Center/Burien-area routes mentioned as “candidates for service enhancement” include 21, 22, 23, 60, 113, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 128, 131, 132, 134, 174. (West Seattle routes are listed in this report on partner site WSB.) ADDED 1:36 PM: Here’s the official news release from the county website. We’re working on getting electronic copies of the collateral (including a countywide map of potentially affected routes) that was handed out at the media event. ADDED 5:30 PM: Full report now posted on WSB, including video clips.

Thanks to Paul for the tip, which we subsequently confirmed with the King County Sheriff’s Office: The White Center Washington Mutual branch was robbed this morning. KCSO’s Sgt. John Urquhart says it happened around 9:40 am today, and the robber got away “on foot” – he was described only as a black man, 35 to 45 years old, and “handsome.”

Looking ahead to the start of school tomorrow for Highline Public Schools (Seattle too, if you’re on that side of the line): One of White Center’s public schools has a new principal – Mark Demick is starting his first year leading Mount View Elementary, after almost a decade of principal work in Federal Way. Here’s his online message to families.

Even though the City of Burien has withdrawn its North Highline Annexation proposal for now (as first reported here), tomorrow night’s hearing before the Boundary Review Board is still on – 7 pm, hearing room’s behind the main building at Riverside Residences Inn, 11244 Tukwila International Blvd. (here’s a map). This is a public hearing (official notice here), so if you have something to say, this is your next chance to say it when/where decisionmakers will hear it.

For today’s holiday:

-Most county facilities, including White Center Library and Evergreen Pool, are closed.
-Metro buses are running on Sunday schedules, as are Sound Transit buses.
-If you have Monday solid-waste pickup, it’s on a normal schedule.
-State-run liquor stores (including White Center and Boulevard Park) are closed.

Did not even know this was going on until just now. Expo Seattle is a Hispanic celebration of all Christian faiths. http://exposeattle.org/

There is music going on almost every corner in the neighborhood.